8 WAYS TO PERK UP YOUR PORCH AND PATIO FOR SPRING AND SUMMER
It’s time to get our porches, patios, and front door stoops ready for outdoor living! Yea! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a clean and well-decorated area to enjoy the upcoming late spring and summer! Now’s the time to do little things to an outside space to make it a fabulous outdoor living area! Here are 8 tips to work on now for a great outdoor space you will love spending time in!
1. SCRUB IT UP!
Get out the hose, bucket and cleaner and give your outdoor space a good scrub! Don’t forget the ceiling of a porch. Wash the windows around your porch or patio and keep them sparkling! Because farmland surrounds StoneGable I have a constant battle with dirt! In between monthly washings I use a leaf blower to blow off the dirt and grime from my porch and patio almost daily.
Start now to wash down patio furniture and porch rockers. At my home, this is a weekly occurrence! My favorite solution for my furniture and rockers is a 2 TBS Pinesol in a bucket of warm water. After a good scrub, I hose them down. I dry down my rockers so they don’t get water spots.
It’s also a great time to wash down any umbrellas and outdoor seat cushions too. I have white cushions so the get a good dose of bleach.
2. PAINT IT TO LOOK FRESH
I’m not talking about a porch… that’s a huge job. We will not be tackling that job again. This year we are calling in professionals… thank goodness! We have painted our porch for the last 20 years. It’s time to let someone else do that big job!
I’m talking about things like rockers and tables and swings and such. Make sure they are not chipping (unless that’s the look you want). It only takes a couple of hours to make a rocker as good as new! Try a fun new color this year!
The time to start painting is not when you want to be rocking and sipping ice tea! So let’s do it now!
3. ADD POTTED FLOWERS
Plants bring life and oh, such beauty to an outdoor living space! The more the merrier I say!
The planting process… and it is a process… begins by inspecting your pots, giving them a good scrub and planting them with seasonal flowers and plants. Right now in my area pansies are ready to be planted! Then summer flowers will go in by Mother’s Day.
When planting annuals in pots it’s a good idea to give them a dose of time released fertilizer like Osmocote.
Each year I have a “theme” and plant flowers accordingly. This year I’m going to plant lots of white flowers. I’ve used such bright colors over the last few years, I think I’ll give white a turn. This year’s theme is BLIZZARD IN SUMMER.
Now is the time to start thinking about what you will plant in all those outdoor pots! Let’s get our hands dirty NOW!
4. ADD A RUG
Nothing defines an outdoor space like a cool rug! And there are sooooo many great rugs and lots of sizes to be found! Start looking now and enjoy the coziness and added color and texture a rug brings!
5. CREATE A SPECIAL AREA
A bistro dining area, a summer reading spot or a nice place to swing and count the fireflies are all examples of fun spaces to create outdoors! Do you like to get up early and read the paper with your cup of coffee? Why not create a little space outdoors to enjoy your morning ritual. Make is special!
6. USE OUTDOOR CURTAINS
Curtains are a great way to “frame” an outdoor living space and give you the privacy and shade you may need. No wonder they are so popular right now! And they look so beautiful fluttering in the breeze! Big, easy to create WOW factor and drama!
7. DON’T FORGET THE PILLOWS!!!!
Don’t you love bringing indoor elements outdoors? Pillow are a fabulous way to do that. They are textural and add color and also a nice soft place to land!
Make sure the pillows you use are filled with poly-fiber and not feathers. We want pillows that can get wet and dry easily! There are so many great pillows made for the outdoors that are weather and sun resistant. They are your best bet!
If you have lots of outdoor pillows, now is the time to get them out and see if they need to be cleaned up or mended!
8. LIGHT IT UP
Add lanterns, torches and solar lights to your outdoor space. What a wonderful way to add mood lighting! They can be moved around unlike wired lighting.
I use battery operated candles on timers to get the most glow from my lanterns!
These torches from Tiki Brand have a solar light that lights up from dusk to dawn! I love love love them!!!!
If you start now and do a little at a time, your porch, stoop, patio, and deck will be ready for you to live outdoors all summer long!
What will you incorporate into your outdoor living space this year? Please share!
Remember to pin this to your Pinterest PORCH, PATIO or SUMMER board. You can follow me and see all the great porch things I am pinning HERE.
Yvonne, nobody does it better…great post!
Cheryl Ann! You make me blush! Thanks!
Beautiful as always! In Alabama, it is time to plant gardens and flowers! Love this time of the year! Love your inspiration!
I love your porch, Yvonne! You always have such great ideas. I look forward to reading your blog each day! My porch is scrubbed and freshly painted and stained, and I’m excited to put out my new cushions and hang some ferns!
Sounds like you are ready for spring and summer porch “porching”!
It’s my absolute favourite place to spend summer days and evenings, outside on the terrace, there is nothing so perfect as outdoor living in the warmer months, dining al fresco, after months indoors it feels so good! Everything in this post is spot on, plants, seating, pillows and lighting. Lighting can create the most magical space, twinkling in the background, highlighting certain plants, creating the perfect ambience for friends and family. I’m already dreaming of those summer nights here in France!
Love the apple green with the black and white. Stunning color combo!
So beautiful!!!!
Once again Yvonne you out did yourself! Thanks for all the wonderful tips on outdoor decorating ideas. I love to be outdoors, now that it has warmed up here in Illinois. Have a great day.
I wish I could start doing the porch but it is way too early here on Long Island. I made the mistake of doing it in May one year only to have to redo everything! We have to wait till June after the pollen invasion has ended. It is what it is, patience is a virtue. ?
Enjoy yours!
Our pollen was very mild this year!
Kathleen, I’m on Long Island too & getting anxious to start getting my porch ready. But like you said, everything will have to be washed down because of the dreaded pollen! I love the idea of outdoor drapes on the porch. Could make it cozier & add privacy. Happy Spring Y’all!
Rebecca
Great tips! I’m in the process…slowly of getting our porch in shape. 🙂
Great post!! working at getting my out candles,and I m going to probably buy a string of lights ,I might need two.
Love sitting outside and having dinner or breakfast on the patio. Love your photos!
Have a Blessed Day
I love the thought of stringing lights outdoors. May just have to incorporate it this year! Hugs to you Pamela!
Hi Yvonne! Your porch looks so good like that! Love the fresh colours and decor! Thanks for the inspiration!
Blessings,
Claire
As bad as the wind blows here in OK and as hard as the sun is on fabrics I hung burlap from a metal bar that I ran thru some o rings (?) screwed into the top of the porch ceiling. The burlap came from the landscape area of Lowes and it is very inexpensive. They I tied it back to the guttering and put bricks on the excess fabric to keep the wind from blowing it all over the place. Works well and is very inexpensive to replace. Gives the place a rustic look and I can leave it up all year around.
What an awesome idea! We get lots of wind too. I may try the bricks
Would like to add solar torches. Details please!
Do they come complete?
what should I expect to pay?Do they last for more than 1 season?
Thanking you in advance,
I’ve been working on our deck all week and am doing everyone of these things. Can’t wait to have it done.
I would love to paint my front porch floor and my back patio! A red brick pattern to match my sidewalk. But can’t get direct instructions so that the paint won’t peel up! Any suggestions? I love the colors of the flowers on your patio!
Your porch and patio are so inspiring! I was just out shopping in Lancaster yesterday, it is so tranquil and the Amish farms are so tidy it always amazes me. Can’ t wait to get some new pillows for my patio to jazz it up!
Loved the porch ideas.. I love decorating my outside. It is an extension of my home. Comments from friends I receive is that they feel they are on vacation. Your perspectives on décor for the outside are a lot like mine. Thank you for sharing.
Love these pictures, the idea of putting the torches in the planters is a wonderful idea…. serves more then one purpose. I am going to make some pillows for my porch, they give the deck a more homey look, and the curtains give shade, privacy and such a finished look.